


Past

by orphan_account



Series: A Christmas Carol (Gravity Falls Style) [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Dipper is stubborn, Everyone Is Gay, M/M, References to A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens, bill cipher is gay, dipper hates christmas, ford hates christmas, fuck you, why? because fuck you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:47:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21866962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “Heya, Pinetree! What are you doing all closed up in here? It’s Christmas Eve, y’know.”“Yeah, I know.orDipper is sad and Bill is pining after a certain pinetree
Relationships: Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines, Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines (One Sided), Fiddleford H. McGucket/Ford Pines, Fiddleford H. McGucket/Ford Pines (One Sided), Pacifica Northwest/Mabel Pines
Series: A Christmas Carol (Gravity Falls Style) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575370
Kudos: 52





	Past

**Author's Note:**

> my memory is a little rusty on the ending of the series so forgive me if i get this wrong heh. also it's sort of a "mabel and dipper live at the mystery shack with ford and stan" au although that's a kind of minor thing

Dipper was never the biggest fan of Christmas. It seemed to him that most kids considered it the best day of the year, maybe second to a birthday. But what was all the fuss about? Presents? He never seemed to get many of those, not now that he was a teenager. Whatever some of his more fortunate relatives felt like spending, they could spend on Mabel. She always had some element of cheer no matter what time of year it was, and Christmas was an opportunity to be even more extravagant.

It was unbearable. 

Besides, Christmas had bad memories tied to it. Christmas vacation as a kid was a time for kids to beat him up without teachers there to do something about it, and home was no better. That is, until Gravity Falls came around. At Gravity Falls, they were all about festivity. Christmas trees and all that had never seemed anything more than eyesores to Dipper, and he was a stubborn guy. Nothing was changing his mind. 

But Mabel was insistent on doing just that. “Dipper,” she would say, “everyone loves Christmas. Even Grunkle Stan loves Christmas! Come  _ on _ , Dip, you gotta join sometime or you’ll just be left alone with Waddles while we go to the cool Christmas party!”

“Works for me. Ford said he’s not going either, so what’s the problem?” Dipper asked. Ford had research to do, apparently. Stan and Mabel objected to it, but stubbornness kinda ran in the family. 

Mabel grinned in the way Dipper knew she did when she was hatching a plan. “ _ Wendy _ is gonna be there.”

Dipper waved her off. “Pssh, I’m not into Wendy anymore. We’re just friends. Seriously, Mabes, you guys can have fun at your stupid party, I’ll be fine here. If I’m lucky, Ford will let me help out.” Lucky was an understatement. “It’s too dangerous for a boy like you. You and Mabel have already done so much life threatening stuff, it’s time to be a kid,” Ford had said the last time Dipper asked.

“Whatever you say. I bet $20 I can get you in the Christmas spirit by the 24th!” That was in 3 days -- there was no way Mabel could do it.

“Never!” They shook hands, and Dipper was 100 percent sure he would be gaining 20 dollars. Nice.

~~

Christmas Eve and Dipper’s chances were looking good. The party was about to start, so Mabel was pacing their bedroom trying to pick the perfect outfit.

“Do I wear the candy cane sweater or the snowman? Candy canes or snowman, Dipper?”

“Candy canes,” Dipper said, absentmindedly flipping through one of the journals. 

“And?” She asked when she donned her festive attire. “Are you gonna come?”

Dipper looked at her like she was insane. “Of course I’m not.” Mabel sighed. “I’ll seeya later, Mabes.Hey, it’s still not Christmas Day. You’ve still got time.” He hated to see his sister upset. 

“Seeya later, Dip.” 

And with that, Dipper was alone. 

But not quite alone. There was somewhere else too. Someone else, watching from the shadows, waiting for just the right moment, the moment when Dipper was vulnerable.

~~

It had been hours. Dipper didn’t even bother talking to Ford -- he didn’t know if he could take the rejection again. 

Whispers filled Dipper’s brain. They ran all over the walls, leaving little footprints like tingles across his body. Tip toe, tip toe, all the way to his brain. Something was there, something in his peripheral vision, but when he turned his head to look there was just a cloud of dust. 

“What?” he mumbled. His brain was cloudy, maybe he just needed to take a nap. Ford would probably wake him up for dinner and by then he would feel a little less...icky.

“Heya Pinetree!” The cloudiness was gone, replaced with pure terror.

“Bill.” The triangle was there, clear as could be, hovering over his bed. “Bill!” he said louder, then he took a breath to say it even louder for Ford to hear. “B-” A hand was pressed over his mouth, only there wasn’t a physical hand there, just Bill’s stupid illusion.

“What are you doing all closed up in here? It’s Christmas Eve, y’know.” Dipper tried to speak, but, y’know, hand. 

“Mmph.” 

The pressure was removed. “Sorry about that, we don’t want you alerting your dear old ‘Grunkle Ford’, now, do we?” Dipper nodded shakily. “Shouldn’t you be at some party? I heard you thinking about it.” 

“I don’t wanna go to Pacifica’s stupid party.”

“Pfft. Yes you do, Pinetree.” Can’t get anything past dream demons, huh? “I’m bored. Wanna play a game? No deals, promise.”

Dipper shrugged. “Games with demons beat being lonely, I guess.”

“Great! You up for time travel? No messing it up, of course, just watching.” It didn’t seem like a question, because Dipper was pulled through anyways. 

~~

“High-six?” a boy whispered nervously. He and the kid who was presumably his brother were tightly squeezed into a couch corner, despite the abundance of room left on the other cushions.

“High-six!” the other responded. They put their hands together. It was just a high-five, what was with the- oh. Six fingers. Dipper had only seen that sort of thing once before, so that had to mean...

Dipper looked around at the rest of the room. It was...dirty. He half expected Stan and Ford to have grown up like some kind of estranged rich kids, but this place was almost reminiscent of McGucket’s old place. Gross.

“Awwe, don’t underestimate ol’ Fiddleford! He’s actually quite smart, you know.” Right, the whole mind reading thing. “What do you think of the place? Nice, right?” 

A middle-aged woman was decorating a Christmas tree, and a guy -- he looked a lot like grown-up Stan and Ford, only meaner -- talking to someone on the phone. It was dreary and sad, but the kids looked happy. 

“Yeah. It’s nice.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, watching the conversations. The father was trying to get Christmas Day off work, but he seemed to be failing. The twins were talking about some Stan-O-War thing, and Stan was upset that they couldn’t work on it during wintertime. The mother had left due to the doorbell ringing soon after their arrival. She was yelling about money, how they couldn’t afford something. The father put down the phone, and the twins looked eager. 

“Did you get it, Dad?” Stan asked, on the edge of his seat. Ford was practically bouncing up and down with excitement next to him. 

Mr. Pines sighed. “I’m sorry boys. It’s just, with the bills to pay and your mother’s business closing up shop? Maybe next year.” Like two deflated balloon animals, the boys slumped back, sharing an identical glance. 

With that, the older man left the room. “He never stays home,” Stan said. 

“Adults are  _ always  _ too busy for this stuff.” Dipper saw a look in Ford’s eyes that he recognized. Losing hope. 

“He said maybe next year,” Stan insisted. “And there’s always our birthday.”

Ford nodded. “Yeah, right.  _ Maybe  _ next year. Maybe means no.” With those words, the conversation was over, the twins slumping back into their seat. And, apparently, Bill decided this time travelling thing was over too. 

_ Maybe means no. _

**Author's Note:**

> fuck yeah spooky triangle times


End file.
